Downfall
by Evil Idiot
Summary: If the sealed card had taken Syaoran's most important feeling, would anyone ever be the same? Mild AU and CCS/HP. Sk/E and Sy/T. DISCONTINUED; see "For You" for rewrite.
1. 00 Don't Speak

"Don't speak  
I know just what you're saying  
So please stop explaining  
Don't tell me cause it hurts" 

No Doubt, "Don't Speak" 

**0**

_Nadeshiko Festival. Tomoeda, Japan. Summer 2000. _

"Syaoran-kun... even if you don't think a thing of me, I love you...! The one I love most is you, Syaoran-kun!" Sakura burst into tears. _A little too late, aren't you?_

Syaoran-kun said nothing, not meeting her gaze. 

If possible, Sakura sobbed harder. 

"I'm so sorry, Sakura, but…" he tried to apologize, which did nothing to console her. 

Sakura hastily dried her tears, humiliated and regretful. _Too late…_"I understand," she said quietly. 

"But we can still be friends, right?" Syaoran-kun offered with uncertainty and out of guilt. 

"Of course we can." Sakura plastered a false smile on her face as inside her heart shattered. 

Author's Note: 

A long time ago, I tried to write a Tomoyo x Syaoran story, yet nothing I wrote seemed logical. I couldn't picture Syaoran or Tomoyo falling out of love with Sakura, and then falling in love with each other. On the show, they're merely close friends. Nothing really suggests a relationship between them other than friendship. So after watching a clip of the end of the second movie, I had an idea. What if Syaoran _had_ lost his most important feeling--his love for Sakura? And so I began to write this. 


	2. 01 Dark Blue

"Unlike you I had it easy   
You're dark blue   
Stained from previous days" 

No Doubt, "Dark Blue" 

**1**

There were two identical, side-by-side hills on the outskirts of Tomoeda. One had once been the site of Hiiragizawa Eriol's mansion, which had been razed two years ago. It now held an amusement park. 

Everyone avoided the other hill. A mansion that was a carbon copy of Hiiragizawa Eriol's former one resided on this hill, but no one ever thought to approach it. As they neared it, they would suddenly remember an important errand they had forgotten to do and rush off, leaving it to itself. 

No one knew why, and no one particularly cared. 

_Hill. Tomoeda, Japan. August 2002._

"How wonderful," Meiling declared to no one in particular. "This isn't a hill, it's a mountain." 

She was exaggerating, but with all her luggage, trying to climb her way up the worn stone steps that wound their way up the hill was a near impossible feat. And who would help her? This town was full of muggles, and the muggle-repelling charms that had been cast over the entire hill kept them miles away. Somehow she'd have to make her way up dragging her clothes, her school supplies (including her textbooks), and any other belongings she'd needed to bring for Hesperian Institute. 

"Do you need help, little girl?" 

The speaker had a rather heavy British accent. He was unmistakably tall, towering over Meiling's comparatively measly 165 cm by nearly 20 cm; his skin was frightfully pale, perhaps as pale as Daidouji's; his hair was of an unusual shade of blue-black confined to a short ponytail, with dark eyes obscured by wire-frame glasses. Clow Reed could be his twin, except this man was about twenty and had shorter hair than the famous, late magician. 

"Absolutely not," she replied obstinately, crossing her arms across her chest in a gesture of defiance. "And I'm not a little girl. Who are you?" 

He laughed. "Why, I'm not surprised you didn't recognize me. We met only briefly." 

"You still haven't answered my question. Who are you?" she insisted. 

"Hiiragizawa Eriol, who else?" 

At once, the expression on Meiling's face changed from suspicion and distrust to fury. 

"You!" With one strategic motion, the element of surprise, and years of martial arts training, in seconds Meiling had tackled the poor young man and pinned him to the ground with her foot. 

"Yes, me." Hiiragizawa spat. Then, before Meiling could react, he reached into one of the pockets of his robes and pulled out his wand. Aiming his wand directly at her, he yelled, "_Stupefy!_" 

The moment she was struck by the jet of white light, Meiling went limp and collapsed (luckily) onto a patch of grass, also releasing her foothold on him. He stood up, dusted himself off, sent the unconscious Meiling a dirty look, and murmured a cloaking spell so the muggles wouldn't stare when they saw him levitate her and her luggage. 

_Hesperian Institute. Tomoeda, Japan. August 2002._

It felt like coming back to the home he'd once had on the neighboring hill, but he knew it wasn't. For one, his now-demolished mansion had not been cream and gold coloured with a red-tiled roof, nor had it contained multitudes of sunflowers that were obviously non-natives of Japan thriving on magic. And its front yard had never had several hundred high school-aged students all dressed in identical cream-coloured robes, relaxing with friends or eyeing everyone nervously, in the case of the new first years. Home but with a twist. 

As Eriol approached it, the gate swung open for him, and he entered it carrying his own luggage (charmed to be feather-light) while still levitating Meiling-san and her luggage. Quite a few students paused their conversation to openly stare at him, and several of the more daring ones approached him to ask, "Professor Hiiragizawa, is she okay? What happened to her?" and the more gossipy ones huddled to whisper excitedly, "That's Li Meiling of the internationally famous Li clan! What would _she_ be doing here?" Eriol brushed past them all to enter the building itself. 

While only three stories tall on the outside, the inside of Hesperian Institute had been magically enlarged to hold four hundred students, rather like how magical tents were much larger inside than out. As soon as he entered, several house-elves appeared and whisked away his luggage to his cottage and Meiling-san's to her dormitories. Then, cautiously, with a flick of his wand he seated her in a chair near the door and muttered, "_Ennervate_." 

Her vermilion eyes snapped open and she leapt out of the chair. "Where am I?" she asked, eyeing her surroundings with wide eyes. 

His smile was amused. "Hesperian Institute, of course." 

Meiling-san blinked rapidly. "How did I get here? Last thing I remembered, I was at the foot of the hill and saw…" she trailed off, remembering. Then she looked up at him with confusion written on her face and asked, "Didn't I tackle you to the ground?" 

Eriol's reply was guarded. "Yes." 

"Then why…" her entire demeanor changed. "I wasn't finished with you!" she shrieked. 

He whipped out his wand again. "_Silentio!_" 

Automatically, Meiling-san fell silent. As she tried to deafen him with her shrieks of fury, no sound came out of her mouth. She seethed at him, but obviously dared not attack for risk of being stunned once more. 

Eriol smiled benignly at her, which only seemed to infuriate her further. "Good. Now, listen to me." The smile vanished replaced by a more serious expression. "I know you're angry at me for all of those incidents in sixth grade, but Li-kun and Sakura-san were in no danger. Had they been, I would have intervened." 

She shook her head. "That's not why I hate you," she mouthed. "Syaoran can take care of himself and Kinomoto-san!" 

He was puzzled. "Then why?" 

Meiling-san looked away, and while he could see her lips moving, she seemed to have forgotten that she was inaudible. 

Eriol sighed heavily. "I'll remove the spell as long as you promise not to shatter any windows, agreed?" 

She nodded, and he muttered the counterspell, "_Remissio_." 

"The sealed card. Why weren't you here to stop it?" she demanded at once. 

"Sakura-san was able to handle it. I didn't need to leave England for it," Eriol explained. 

"Of course she handled it. But was the cost worth it?" Meiling-san looked oddly calm now, although her arms were crossed. Apparently, she suffered from extreme mood swings. "You should see Syaoran. He's like a stone statue now, silent and emotionless except for the guilt written all over his face." 

"I'm sorry, Li-san, but-" 

"-but nothing, Hiiragizawa." She cut him off. "You could have been there to stop it! What was Clow thinking?" 

"Clow was thinking," Eriol replied icily, "that there should be a balance to the Clow Cards. And how could I stop it? I'm no longer as powerful as I once was. Do I look like a cardcaptor to you?" 

Meiling-san turned away again, this time with nothing to say. He interrupted her silence. 

"You should change into your robes. The orientation meeting starts soon, and you don't want to miss that." 

Eriol turned and left for his quarters, but as he shot her one last glance, she still hadn't moved. 

_First Year Girls' Dorm C. Hesperian Institute. Tomoeda, Japan. August 2002._

When she had no longer been able to hear Hiiragizawa's steps echoing in the hall, she had climbed the spiral set of stairs in front of her all the way to the eighth floor. While there appeared to be three floors from the outside, there were nine floors on the inside. The eighth floor, on which she was currently standing, held the first and second-year girls' dorms and bathrooms. There were also several rooms with many circular tables scattered about, most likely for studying. 

Since there were about fifty girls in Meiling's year, there were five dorm rooms with ten girls in each. There had been a lack of creativity during their naming, for each room was merely referred to with a letter name (A, B, C, D, E). Placement was determined by last name, and so Meiling had been placed in Dorm C. 

About half of the beds already had suitcases next to them, and the one right next to the door had hers by its side. She unlatched it, revealing a magically enlarged interior, and pulled out a pair of brand new cream colored robes. With little care she threw these on, then slammed the suitcase shut and headed out the door. 

"Your hair needs fixing, dear," a mirror advised as she passed it. 

Meiling had ignored it for a few seconds, then doubled back to check on the dark sea of curls that was her hair. She was still vain. Not even the discovery of her magic had changed that. 

_Moonscape Cottage. Hesperian Institute. Tomoeda, Japan. August 2002._

Unlike the dormitories, the teacher's not-so-small cottages had been given more creative names. However, they still weren't very good ones. Eriol had yet to discover how his living space resembled a moonscape in any way, shape, or form. At least he didn't live there year-round. During the summer he stayed in England, with his guardians. Kaho had moved out shortly after the sealed card incident, and he had never heard from her again. He hadn't been too surprised. They hadn't been very close. 

He also hadn't been surprised at Meiling-san's presence at Hesperian Institute. Seeing as how she had no eastern magic, there was no place for her in Hong Kong. Magic was a curious thing. It appeared to be hereditary, although squibs and muggle-borns were not uncommon occurrences. Meiling-san had been thought of as a squib for most of her life, but the Li clan had been pureblooded for centuries. How could any of its members be without magic? 

Meiling hadn't been without magic. She'd been born with it, and she'd had it for her entire life. Her capabilities were merely different from the rest of her family's. And so she had to be educated elsewhere—at a school of western magic. Luckily for her, she was not an isolated incident; Hesperian Institute had been founded for people just like herself. There was no need to travel to Australia, to England, to America, to any western country. Hesperian Institute had been built in Tomoeda, Japan. 

A rapping noise on the window snapped Eriol out of his thoughts. There was a tawny owl outside his window, a tiny roll of parchment clutched in its talons. He unlatched then pushed open the window, letting the owl in, who dropped the parchment into Eriol's free hand and flew away abruptly. After latching the window shut, he unrolled the parchment, which read: 

_Orientation is to be held in fifteen minutes. Please make your way to the Auditorium as soon as possible. _

_Headmistress Haramoto_

Crumpling the paper and tossing it into a wastebasket, Eriol left his cottage for Orientation. 

_Outdoor Auditorium. Hesperian Institute. Tomoeda, Japan. August 2002._

"Welcome, to the 2002-2003 school year at Hesperian Institute!" began Headmistress Haramoto, speaking into a magical microphone. Several enthusiastic cheers and some applause greeted this statement. Meiling remained stony-faced and silent. 

"Let me begin this evening by introducing the faculty this year. I am Headmistress Haramoto, and…" Meiling tuned out her speech, wondering idly what the point of Orientation was. She could figure everything out on the first day tomorrow, right? That was what the first day was for, after all. 

"Hey, how long does this idiot assembly last?" she asked her neighbor. 

"I wouldn't know. I'm a first year like you. Wait, you're a first year too, right?" The boy's face had been nonchalant, then realizing his possible mistake, it had twisted into an anxious expression. 

"If I weren't a first year, wouldn't I be incredibly stupid to ask you that?" Meiling replied, slightly amused. 

"Yes, you would," he muttered. "I'm Sasaki Daisuke, by the way. What's your name?" Sasaki-san had medium-length, spiky and extremely messy auburn hair. His skin was tanned, most likely from the summer season, and his eyes were brown with a reddish tint. He had pretty eyes, she noticed, with long black feminine lashes. 

"Li Meiling." 

"Then weren't you the girl Professor Hiiragizawa levitated to school?" he asked, his curiosity evident in his tone. 

"Yes," she replied shortly. Did everyone know about that? 

Sasaki-san almost looked as if he pitied her. "Why did he do that?" 

Meiling didn't like being pitied. "Because I attacked him." Upon seeing the expression on his face, she added hastily, "Don't ask." 

He shrugged. "Okay, I won't. But I've got a feeling that you'll tell me someday." 

Meiling wondered if he was particularly gifted in divination, when Sasaki-san draped an arm around her shoulders in a friendly manner. "'cause I already know we're going to be great friends!" 

Despite the cheese in his statement, she grinned her assent. 

_Outdoor Cafeteria. Hesperian Institute. Tomoeda, Japan. August 2002._

There were about 40 round tables scattered about, each having a seating capacity of about ten people. Some of the students, mainly boys, were wolfing down their food at an alarming rate. Others barely picked at theirs. 

"Sasaki-san, why aren't you eating anything?" asked Meiling, concerned. Strangely enough, Sasaki-san's food remained mostly untouched. He already looked incredibly thin and diminished; he was only taller than her by about 3 cm. 

"Not hungry," he mumbled. 

"Not hungry?" she echoed incredulously. "I've never met any guy who wasn't always hungry except…" Meiling trailed off, thinking of her favorite cousin. He'd never had any appetite after summer of 2000. It was his guilt. 

Sasaki-san did not press her to explain, instead changing the subject. "What subject are you looking forward to?" 

Meiling thought for a moment. "Divination." 

It was his turn to be incredulous. "Why divination? It's hardly ever accurate." 

"To prevent future mistakes. If I know the future, I know how to keep it from happening. What subject are you looking forward to?" 

"Magical art," he declared. "Because I'll be a famous artist someday." 

She arched one perfect black eyebrow. "And how do you know that for sure?" 

He shrugged. "I'm talented. I'll find a way to succeed." 

"I wouldn't be so confident if I were you," warned Meiling. 

"But that's the thing. You're not me. So there." Sasaki-san smirked smugly, and Meiling gave up, going back to her dinner. Arguing with her newfound friend was pointless. 

_Ice Cream Shop. Tomoeda, Japan. August 2002._

"I still can't believe Haramoto didn't notice us," commented Meiling as she let her hot fudge sundae melt in the hot summer sun. "Or is she just careless?" 

"Careless, more like," replied Sasaki-san, nibbling at his mint chocolate chip ice cream cone. He claimed that it was his favorite flavor, yet he had devoured hardly any of it. 

"I'm glad about that, then." She smiled. All the students, even the new first-years, had been allowed to spend one of the last days before school started in Tomoeda. While they were supposed to stay in large groups chaperoned by the professors, she and Sasaki-san had managed to sneak off. Meiling had been here before, and so it had only been too easy for her to do so. 

Meiling decided to eat her sundae before it turned into a pool of white and brown swirls. Her spoon cut through the gooey mess like a knife through butter. "So Sasaki-" 

She paused. He had a rather dreamy expression on his face, and so she turned around to see what he was staring at. Two girls who looked to be about their age, fourteen, had just entered the store. Meiling could tell that both were beautiful, much more so than herself (although she would never admit it out loud), though the one with auburn hair seemed to have an air of ice and frigidity surrounding her. Maybe it was just her imagination? 

"Sasaki-san, stop daydreaming!" she hissed. 

He jumped, and his nibbled-at ice cream flew into the air… 

…and landed on the girl with auburn hair. 

Meiling swore, loudly. 

Sasaki-san was in a panic, leaping out of his seat to apologize. "I am so, so, so, so, so, sorry! I really didn't mean to do that! Here-" He looked around wildly, seizing a rumpled napkin and handing it to her. "-take this!" 

The girl was infuriated, much to his dismay. "You **idiot**! How could you be so clumsy!" 

Meiling came to his rescue. "It was my fault. I'm the one who startled him." _Have you a death wish?!_

"And **he's** the one who threw the ice cream!" Her bright green eyes were narrowed to thin slits, a clear sign of her fury. 

"Please, Sakura-chan, calm down! It was clearly an accident!" said her companion, a gray-haired girl with violet eyes and a pale complexion. 

_Sakura-chan? Could she be Kinomoto-san? And is that Daidouji with her?_

Meiling decided to risk it. "Kinomoto-san? Daidouji?" 

Both of them froze. Sasaki-san, who seemed to have calmed down a little bit, asked, "Meiling-chan, do you know them?" 

"Meiling-chan?" said the auburn-haired girl, a bit hesitantly. "It's me…Sakura." 

Author's Note: 

Yes, I'm evil leaving you with a cliffhanger. But don't worry. I doubt I'll take months and months to update this story. It's too…addictive. And if you're a bit confused by several things (such as Sakura's b*tchiness, or Eriol's sudden growth spurt), all will be explained next chapter. 

About their ages: 

Sakura, Tomoyo, Syaoran, Meiling, and Daisuke are all 14. Eriol is 20. He wasn't exactly 12 during the Sakura Card Arc, since he stopped growing once he created his guardians. As for his current condition, that will be explained next chapter, as I said earlier. 

On flames: 

You're welcome to flame (yes, that means you, SailorJamie, and any other overly obsessive S+S fans) but it won't do much good. I'll keep writing this story, because I'm writing it for myself and any other fans of SxT and SxE. (and those are heterosexual pairings! Not Sakura x Tomoyo or Syaoran x Eriol. Sorry.) The only thing you will achieve by flaming in excessive caps is humiliating yourself. Otherwise, praise and constructive criticism welcome. 


	3. 02 Butterfly Collector

"But to you in your little dream world   
You're still the queen of the butterfly collectors"

Garbage, "Butterfly Collector"

****

**2**

"Oh…it's good to see you…" Meiling lamely attempted to ward off the awkwardness of the situation, failing miserably. 

Daidouji, eyeing Sasaki-san, spoke up. "Maybe we should discuss this somewhere else-"

She was interrupted by a professor, the very one that Meiling wanted to see the least at the moment.

"Li-san! Sasaki-san!" Hiiragizawa had finally found them; Meiling had expected him to discover them sooner. "If you do not offer an explanation for your behavior in the next ten seconds, both of you will be receiving detention!" 

_Only detention? ___

__

"For a week!" 

_Never mind. _

"Ah…" Meiling searched her brain for an excuse, coming up with none. From the expression on his face, Sasaki-san didn't have a decent excuse either. 

_Hello, week of torture. With Hiiragizawa__. Oh, joy._

"Detention? You go to school here?" Kinomoto-san looked puzzled.

It seemed as if Hiiragizawa had only just noticed Kinomoto-san and Daidouji, for his eyes widened after she spoke. "I hadn't realized you were here. I'm going to have to _obliviate you two." _

"_Obliviate? What are you going to do to them, Hiiragizawa?" Meiling briefly regretted not taking a look at her textbooks before she came to school. There was no Kinomoto-san to compete with, and no Syaoran to impress._

Kinomoto-san laughed, although it wasn't a kind laugh. "Even I know that, and you're the one who's supposed to be studying western magic. To _obliviate someone is to wipe her memory. It's usually performed on muggles who have seen too much magic. They can't be trusted to keep a secret."_

"Maybe not then," Hiiragizawa muttered. "Is that you, Sakura-san?" 

"It depends," was her cryptic reply. "If you mean happy, bubbly, cheerful Sakura-san, she died two years ago."

There was an awkward silence after her depressing statement. __

__

"Everyone? Maybe we should talk in a less public area?" Daidouji suggested once more.

Looking around, Meiling did not see anyone who could have eavesdropped on them. None of the others did either, so they left. 

_Moonscape Cottage. Hesperian Institute. Tomoeda, Japan. August 2002._

After little debate, the group of five headed to Hesperian Institute. Eriol-kun sent off an owl the moment they arrived at his cottage, presumably to inform the headmistress of Meiling-chan and her friend's whereabouts, and offered them tea. 

Meiling-chan declined, as did as her friend; but she and Tomoyo-chan accepted his offer. 

"I'll be back in a moment. Conjured tea never tastes the same as real tea." Eriol-kun left, leaving the four teenagers to themselves in his living room. 

"So Meiling-chan," began Sakura, "you go to school here now?" 

"Yeah, I got my acceptance letter earlier this summer. How do you know so much about it?" asked Meiling-chan. 

Sakura shrugged complacently. "There were some books on western magic in the basement, near where I found The Clow."

"The Clow? Then you're the Clow Mistress!" Apparently, Meiling-chan's friend knew something about the Clow Cards. 

Sakura blinked. "Yes," she nodded slightly, "I am."

He looked absolutely mortified. "And I spilled ice cream on you!" 

She glanced at her shoulder, where the ice cream had landed. It seemed to have mostly disappeared, for there was only a green stain on her otherwise clean white blouse. Perhaps it had fallen off? He _had spilled a lot of ice cream on her. _

"And I'm sure you didn't know who she was," Tomoyo-chan reassured him.

It was at this moment that Eriol-kun chose to enter with the tea. 

"Sakura-san, Daidouji-san, I hope the two of you don't mind raspberry tea; it was the only kind I had today," he said apologetically, carrying in a silver tray with a porcelain tea set. It was extremely fancy for someone working for a teacher's salary. The tea set must have been brought from England. 

"It's fine," Tomoyo-chan answered for the two of them. "We don't mind."

Eriol-kun sat down in a chair next to the group, setting the tray on the table beside them. "Li-san, Sasaki-san, you two won't be getting away with sneaking off just yet."

Sakura heard identical, audible groans from the two of them.

He fixed the pair with a stern glance. "Both of you will be serving detention with me, for a week—starting the first day of school next week. I have already informed Headmistress Haramoto of your whereabouts, and she is most displeased. Neither of you will be going on the next trip into town. I hope you are both properly remorseful." 

"Very," she heard Meiling-chan mutter under her breath. 

Sakura decided to not-so-subtly change the subject. "Eriol-kun, why do you look so different? You look as if you were twenty."

"That's because I am," he answered. "I was eighteen when you saw me last."

"But you looked our age," Tomoyo-chan interjected.

"I was twelve when I created Spinel Sun and Ruby Moon; after that I stopped growing. I remained the same for six years. When the sealed card was captured, I had what seems to be best described as a massive growth spurt. About eight years' worth of growth was crammed into a span of two years."

Sakura winced. That sounded painful.

"It wasn't that bad, actually," Eriol-kun reassured them after seeing the identical expressions on all their faces (excluding Meiling-chan, who for some reason had glee written all over her face), "I didn't feel it much. I only saw the changes taking place."  (At this, Meiling-chan's expression of glee morphed into one of disappointment.)

Apparently Sasaki-san had noticed her facial expression as well. "Don't look so disappointed, Li, what did he ever do to you except give you detention for a week?" 

"Not to _me," she replied evasively. "And it was technically his fault that it happened." _

"Technically my fault?" Eriol-kun looked mildly irritated, which meant that in fact he was extremely irritated. He was very good at hiding his emotions when he chose to. "You do realize that we are different people and that I had no influence over his actions, correct? And it was for a good cause!" 

Suddenly, Sakura had a very good idea of what he and Meiling-chan were talking about.

Meiling-chan laughed harshly. "I thought he was able to see the future. Does Kinomoto-san look as if you've done her a great favor? I know that Syaoran doesn't."

That did it. Sakura stood up abruptly, having heard enough. "Would  you stop talking about it as if I weren't here? The past is the past. I'm leaving now." 

She made her way to the door, opening it long enough for Tomoyo-chan to utter a rushed, "Thanks for the tea, Hiiragizawa-kun!" before leaving (she was polite to the last) and to hear Sasaki-san ask, 

"Would anyone please explain to me what's going on?"

_Kinomoto Residence. Tomoeda, Japan. August 2002.___

__

_What am I wearing__?___

__

It certainly wasn't one of Tomoyo-chan's creations. Sakura appeared to be wearing western-style powder blue wizarding robes, lined with delicate white lace that looked as if it would break under the slightest bit of pressure. Her robes looked exactly like an illustration of 18th century wear she had seen in Ye Olde Wizarding Guide to Fashion, except the illustration hadn't been nearly so pretty as the real thing. 

She seemed to be standing in an English garden, but it was obviously cultivated with magic. A light layer of snow blanketed the ground, and more was falling, but it seemed to evaporate the instant it met a flower. Some of them, such as the starflowers or the gladioli, clearly could not grow in England's cold and rainy climate. Other plants were so obviously magical that she wondered what would happen if a muggle stumbled upon the garden. She might rush out of the garden in fright at the sight of the gigantic umbrella-sized flora or the quivering Flutterbye Bushes. 

Sakura sat down on a snow-free stone bench, shivering and wishing for a jacket. 

"Are you cold?"

She stopped shivering for a moment, looking up into the face of Clow Reed. _Or is it Eriol-kun? He looks so young.___

__

"Here, take my cloak." He unclasped his cloak and handed it to her, who accepted it gratefully.

"But won't you be cold then?" she asked. 

Clow Reed/Eriol-kun smiled. "No." 

They sat there, silent, for what seemed like an hour. Apparently, he was perfectly content to stare into space for a long period of time. 

Sakura broke the silence. "Reed-san, why have you brought me here?"

He appeared to be genuinely puzzled. "But I haven't, Lightner."

_Thud._

"Ouch!" Sakura woke to find herself entangled in her light blanket on the floor, the alarm clock ringing loudly next to her. She never woke up feeling peaceful or content, especially after a prophetic dream. 

Prophetic dream?

"Kero-chan?" 

The guardian beast didn't look up from his video game. "What is it, Sakura? Can't you see I'm busy right now?"

"Did Clow Reed ever know anyone named Lightner? Who looked a bit like me?" She asked loudly over the blaring volume.

"I don't know," Kero-chan replied, distracted by the flashing lights and sounds of his video game.

Sakura scowled, an expression that looked out of place on her face. Keroberos, Guardian Beast of the Seal, liked only two things in life—food, and video games. Ever since all the cards had been captured and converted, he had provided her with little help on anything. She'd have to ask Eriol-kun about it, then. 

_Hill. Tomoeda, Japan. August 2002. _

Sakura was very grateful that school had not yet started. Using only her memory, she had found her way to the hill, but upon reaching it, she saw no steps, nor any cream colored mansions on top of it. She had circled around it about ten times before she remembered that she had her cards with her. It had been a long time since she had needed (or wanted) to use them. They brought back…memories.

Using a combination of Fly and Illusion (which left her feeling mildly drained), she made her way up the hill, but when she reached the top she saw nothing but dead grass and dirt.  Hoping to not land top of some sort of building, Sakura landed at the very edge of the hill and pulled out Through. She had gotten through the magical barrier, only to face a large black iron fence. At this point, she was beginning to feel more than just a little tired, but she used Jump to make her way over the fence. 

"Hey you! Girl wearing black!" called out a masculine voice that sounded as if it were from a high altitude. Sakura looked up wearily, to see a boy in cream colored quidditch robes flying on a broomstick. To her, he looked like an ant. "Watch out for that bludger!"

_Bludger? ___

__

She heard a whistling sound behind her. 

_Oh.___

__

Despite her already exhausted magical powers, she did not have a death wish. "Shield! Block that bludger!"

The bludger bounced off the pink, transparent shield (which appeared to be wavering a bit) with a loud_ clank! Looking up, Sakura saw the boy (or was it an ant?) gaping at her. But she ignored him, and decided to continue on to Eriol-kun's cottage before she collapsed. She had a terrible headache. _

__

_Moonscape Cottage. Hesperian Institute. Tomoeda, Japan. August 2002._

"That wasn't very wise of you, Sakura-san," Eriol-kun admonished her.

Sakura shrugged. "I didn't know how to talk to you otherwise. Do you have a phone here?" 

He shook his head. "We communicate by owl."

"Then there was no other way I could have talked to you, right?" 

"What amazes me is that you used," he thought for a moment, "**five cards to get here, when you could have only used one—Mirror. You could have sent your mirror self to tell me to owl you."**

"Mirror wouldn't have been able to see the school either," she objected.

"Remember, Mirror is a Clow Card—not a magical human such as yourself. You may lack western magic, but to a magical object—no matter how humanoid—magic is just magic. It would have been able to find me just fine," Eriol-kun explained.

"And you tell me _now," Sakura grumbled._

"Sorry, but you did leave rather abruptly yesterday. But it doesn't matter now. What urgent thing have you come to say?"  

"I had some sort of prophetic dream," she began, "but it wasn't of the future. I'm sure it was the past." 

His curiosity was blatant on his face. "And what happened? Do you know what time period it was?"

"Nothing really happened. I was in this garden, it looked English—but it was definitely magical. And your former self—he looked really young though—was the only other person there. He called me Lightner."

Eriol-kun, despite being a very pale person, seemed to go even paler. "Are you sure he called you _Lightner?"_

She nodded. "Yes, pretty sure. Is something the matter?"

"Probably not. Hopefully not." He tried to sound reassuring, and normally he was very persuasive, but his face was still ashen.

Sakura frowned. Her dream, apparently, wasn't a very good omen. "Who was Lightner then?" 

Here Eriol-kun smiled, though still he lacked color in his face. "One of Clow's closest childhood friends, whose real name was Hero Lightner. She looked very much like you do today."

"And what happened to her?" 

He said, unflinchingly, "She died."

Author's Note:

Sorry, but I took a bit longer than I expected to writing this chapter. It's not as good as I would have liked it to be, but it'll do. Next chapter will be more interesting, I promise. Syaoran will probably make his appearance in this fic next chapter or the chapter after next. 

On Names:

Depending on the POV of the scene, the characters are named differently. Sakura thinks of Meiling and Meiling-chan, Meiling thinks of Sakura as Kinomoto-san, and so on. I tried to keep it as accurate to the anime series as possible, but I did make a few mistakes, and for others I just made it up. So you can usually tell whose POV a scene is in by what the characters are referred to as.  

On the Harry Potter References:

After I changed the summary a bit, it does say that this fic crosses over to Harry Potter as well. But Sakura is **not going to Hogwarts. I originally had Meiling doing so, then realized another important aspect of the plot would not work if she did. So I created Hesperian Institute for her to attend, and situated it in Tomoeda. **


	4. 03 In My Head

**"I tried to think about rainbows   
When it gets bad  
You got to think about something   
To keep from going mad"**

No Doubt, "In My Head"

**3**

_Library. Hesperian Institute. Tomoeda, Japan. November 2002._

Divination was normally Meiling's favorite class, but as she stared at her tarot card assignment, it seemed much less favorable than usual. Having just completed a unit on tarot cards, Professor Zechariah had provided each member of the class with seven three-by-five cards, all blank. It was on these that she was meant to design her own deck. 

But what to draw? She could be completely unoriginal and draw a "standard" deck with cards such as "The Tower," "Six of Wands," or "The Sun." Or, she could make her own and obtain extra credit in Hiiragizawa's class. The latter option was more difficult, but it would be worth it. Ever since Meiling had discovered that Hiiragizawa was teaching Magical Art, she had put minimal effort into the class; as a result, her grade could seriously do with some improvement. Despite the fact that there was no need to obtain decent grades, she was still too proud to allow herself to fail a class.

The textbook was providing no inspiration, so Meiling stuffed it in her backpack, gathered the cards in her hand and wandered off to the art section. 

As she browsed through the books full of renaissance paintings and Stone Age sculptures, Meiling found herself uninspired. The pictures were pretty to look at, but that was all they were—pretty pictures. There was nothing that she could base her tarot deck on.

She ambled past the shelves, hoping something would catch her eye. They were mostly stuffed with dusty old tomes that looked as if no one had ever read them. Meiling walked to the very end of the library, and decided to poke about the shelves there. Scanning the titles, she decided that this was the mythology section. Muggle mythology, to be exact. One book caught her eye.

But it was on the very top shelf, and looked to be slightly beyond her reach. Setting her stuff down on a nearby table, Meiling made her way back the shelf with the book (Muggle Greek Mythology) and stood on her toes, reaching for the book. It was still out of her reach. She jumped; yet she could not jump high enough. Balling her hands into fists, she glared at the book fiercely, forgetting for the moment that it was an inanimate object.

"You don't know how ridiculous you look," Hiiragizawa commented behind her.

"Shut up, you," she retorted, turning around to face him.

He shook his head mockingly. "That is no way to speak to a teacher, especially one who could be of assistance."

"Assistance? I don't need it," said Meiling defiantly.

Hiiragizawa gave a sly smile. "Are you sure, Li-san? You do need that book, and, seeing as you're too short to reach it…"

She seethed. "Then what do you suggest I do?"

He began to walk away. "The spell you need is _accio," he called over his shoulder as he left. "And you're welcome!"_

Meiling glared at him behind his back, but decided to try out the spell, despite the person who had provided her with it. She took her wand out of the pocket of her robes and pointed it at the book.

"_Accio!" she yelled._

Nothing happened.

"_Accio!" she tried again._

Not even a quiver.

"_Accio! ****__Accio! ****__ACCIO!" _

Her eyes began to widen in horror as **every book the in bookshelf began to fall off the shelf—and right on top of her. Meiling ducked, but it was no use; the books continued to bombard her until she was lying at the bottom of a large pile of mostly old dusty tomes. **

Less than a minute later, she heard quick footsteps headed her way.

_Just what I need. Public humiliation._

To her tremendous relief, it was Sasaki who poked his head around the corner of the bookshelf. Unfortunately, his reaction was to burst out laughing.

"Shut up, Sasaki!" she hissed. "You'll draw attention, and I **don't need anyone else seeing me like this!"**

He stopped abruptly. "Need a hand?" 

Meiling sent him an incredulous look. "Do I look like it?"

Sasaki took it as a yes, and silently offered her his hand. She grasped it and pulled herself up. 

"So what were you doing here? I've never seen you at the library, not even the art section."

"Serving detention," he explained. "What were **you doing here? And how did you manage to get buried in a pile of books?"**

"I need extra credit in Hiiragizawa's class, and if I create an original tarot deck in Divination, he'll give me extra credit for it. I was looking for inspiration," Meiling replied. "But Hiiragizawa gave me a lousy spell to get a book I wanted on the top shelf."

He _tsked sympathetically. _

"And it didn't even work properly at first! I had try it five times before it worked!" she complained further.

Sasaki smirked. "Then it must have been a _very difficult spell, since Li gets **everything on her first try."**_

His taunt was half-true. In Charms, Meiling was Professor Niwa's star pupil—that subject came to her naturally. At the moment, she liked it better than she did Divination. 

"Shut up," she repeated, though this time with less animosity.

After Sasaki had figured out what spell had caused the books to topple off their shelves, he and Meiling had found the counterspell in their textbooks (apparently, all she had used was a Summoning Charm). Exercising much more caution than she had before, she sent the books back (except for the one she wanted, which she checked out) and they left the library for dinner. 

_Outdoor Cafeteria. Hesperian Institute. Tomoeda, Japan. November 2002._

"Li, stop poring over that book! You're scaring me!" Sasaki complained. Meiling was eating at her usual steady pace, but in front of her was the library book, and it was open. 

"But these pictures! I think I'll use them for my deck," she protested. 

"Doesn't matter. You're acting like the nerds at that table." He gestured toward a nearby table where all of the students read during mealtimes. 

"And _you **always act like those girls at that table." Meiling pointed to another nearby table of nearly anorexic girls who ate barely enough to sustain themselves, for fear of gaining weight.**_

He looked down at his plate. Meiling saw that it was nearly empty, yet she had seen him take only a few bites of food. 

"I told you, I don't get hungry very easily," he said, albeit not convincingly. 

"Sure," she replied sarcastically. 

Sasaki sent her an unreadable look, pushed his plate away from him, then got out of his seat and left, leaving her there to stare at his empty spot. 

_Dorm C. Hesperian Institute. Tomoeda, Japan. November 2002. _

Meiling was utterly confused by her surroundings. 

Everyone here was dressed in robes, though they were all of different colors and materials. She herself was wearing golden robes of silk, sitting on a spiral staircase next to someone who looked suspiciously like Hiiragizawa. In the nearby corner, a silent and stony-faced Kinomoto-san sat in an ornate golden chair, speaking only to rudely refuse offers to dance. And the music was out of date by perhaps three centuries. 

"Kitson, don't look so gloomy," said Daidouji as she walked up the corner where Kinomoto-san was sitting.

"Miyazaki, do I look as if I care?" Kinomoto-san replied with a calm exterior.

Daidouji shrugged. "You might. If you smiled more often, maybe then your fiancé might pay more attention to you." 

Apparently, this had touched a nerve. Kinomoto-san stood up angrily, and pointing to the crowded dance floor, she declared hotly, "Leave. It may be your birthday, but I will not hesitate to hurt you. Badly."

The only thing that Daidouji did was to adopt a smug look on her face. "Touchy, are we?" 

To Meiling's surprise, Kinomoto-san drew a real sword out of her pocket. She pulled it out of its scabbard, and the blade gleamed in the dim candlelight. "Magically enlarged pockets are useful," she remarked almost complacently, running her fingertip gently along the edge of the sword so that she did not bleed. Kinomoto-san pointed the tip of the sword in Daidouji's direction, right in front of her face. "Care to find out how?"

"_Lightner!" Hiiragizawa hissed frantically. "Your father and mother will kill you for this!"_

But Kinomoto-san did not move, only smirked, as the expression on Daidouji's face changed from haughty to fearful. 

"Scared, are we?" she mocked.

"Lightner," Hiiragizawa repeated. "Put the sword away."

Kinomoto-san granted him his request, jamming the sword back into the scabbard, which went back into her pocket. "Leave," she repeated.

This time, Daidouji complied, leaving the three of them to themselves.

"You should really learn to control yourself," Hiiragizawa scolded. "That was most unwise of you. Had someone seen you…"

"I know," Kinomoto-san gave a weary sigh. "But she provokes me."

"What happened to you two, Kinomoto-san?" Meiling asked. "Just last week you and Daidouji were still the best of friends. And when did you gain a fiancé and a sword?"

Both Hiiragizawa and Kinomoto-san stared at her.

"Aello? Are you feeling all right?" Hiiragizawa asked hesitantly.

"Of course I am," Meiling replied dumbfounded. "But why are you calling me Aello?"

Kinomoto-san sent her a bewildered look. "Because that is your name."

Meiling fumbled blindly for her wand, being mostly without light, and upon finding it she whispered, "_Lumos!" A tiny light shone at the tip of her wand, lighting up her bed area and casting shadows on the walls of the room. She saw that everyone, excluding herself, was asleep. Apparently, she had only been dreaming. But it had been such a strange dream…_

_Library. Hesperian Institute. Tomoeda, Japan. November 2002._

It had been a week and Sasaki still refused to speak to her. 

Her criticism about his eating habits had offended him so deeply he acted as if she did not exist. If she tried to speak to him, he made no reply. When she entered a room he left it. 

But he was just a silly boy, right? She was fine without him. Her tarot deck was nearly completed; all she had to do was add was the color. The only problem was how. 

Being not much of an artist, Meiling had few art supplies. While she could have borrowed paint from Hiiragizawa, she still did not think much of him. And magic markers would look terribly inappropriate on her tarot cards. But they were all that she had. Just as she was about to surrender and just make do with the markers, Sasaki appeared.

"_Accio!" The marker flew to Sasaki's hand. "You are **not going to use **__magic markers on that assignment. I would never forgive myself."_

He pulled out the chair adjacent to hers, and made himself comfortable in it, ignoring her stunned gaze. Out of his backpack came a set of watercolors. "I am going to teach you how to paint with watercolors," he declared. "But first, get me some water."

She had not realized how much she had missed her best friend. When she was younger she never had a true best friend—Syaoran was the closest. Even in Japan, her classmates were mere acquaintances. But here, she and Sasaki had spent most of their time in each other's company—up until a week ago. It was reassuring to have him back. 

"They don't look half bad now," Sasaki assented. The two of them had spent the better part of three hours in the library; one hour for Meiling to learn how to paint with watercolors properly; two hours for her to finish the cards. 

Meiling had decided to base her cards on the book that had caused her so much trouble to obtain. All seven of them each had an image of a Greek goddess, which had been difficult to draw, but the cards had turned out much better than she had expected them to. 

"Thanks to you," she grudgingly admitted. "And I…I'm sorry about what I said. I didn't know it would affect you like that."

Sasaki shrugged. "You couldn't have known. Just…don't ask about it, okay?"

"As long as you don't collapse from lack of food, I won't," Meiling promised him. She wasn't willing to spend another week with her best friend giving her the cold shoulder.

Author's note:

I have no time whatsoever. But winter break is coming! I'll have more time to write then. Sadly, I've already begun to lose interest in this story, but I'm determined to finish it. It's going in a slightly different direction from what I intended it to.

About Eriol:

He teaches Magical Art in this fic because he's a good artist in the anime. There's an episode where Sakura and Eriol are drawing the same thing, and while Sakura's drawing looks like something a child drew (and she **is a child), his is lifelike and gorgeous. I have a feeling that it's the Alice in Wonderland episode, but I could be mistaken.**

On _Accio:_

Harry Potter didn't learn the summoning spell until fourth year. Since Hogwarts' system is slightly different, Meiling would learn it in her second year, since at Hesperian Institute they condensed seven years into four. She is currently a first year, despite being a ninth grader in real life. 

On Reviewing:

Thank you to all who have reviewed so far. But if you're reading this, and you haven't reviewed, then I'd really like to hear from you. It's good to know what people think of this fic. I can't improve at writing if you don't tell me what I need to improve on, right?


	5. 04 Have You Seen Me Lately

"Get away from me   
This isn't gonna be easy   
But I don't need you"

Counting Crows, "Have You Seen Me Lately"   
  
****

**4**

_First Year Boys' Dorm D. Hesperian Institute. Tomoeda, Japan. November 2002._

Daisuke felt himself falling asleep. His Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook was open to the section on artifacts of dark magic, and an essay he hadn't yet started on was due the next day—but he couldn't bring himself to write anything. 

"Items of dark magic are used with an intent to harm, blah blah blah…" he muttered to himself as he scanned the section for anything interesting. Spotting nothing, he flipped through it until a certain page caught his eye.

There were several pictures on this page. The first one was of two tarot cards—one of them looked suspiciously like the cards Li had painted earlier that day. Another picture was of a man who could pass for Hiiragizawa-san, although the caption said that his name was Clow Reed. But what had really drawn him to the page was the last picture. Clearly, the caption read Aello Lasair Savill, but the girl in the painting was **Li. **

Of course, there were a few minor differences between "Aello" and Li. For one, Aello's hair was long and straight, her eyes were not red, but a warm hazel, and she looked older. Secondly, her frilly silver robes were fashionable—but only if she had lived three centuries ago. Daisuke wondered if Aello and Li were distantly related. He began to read the page.

**_Clow Reed__ (figure 7-4) created the powerful _****Clow Cards (figure 7-5) in the early 18th century, simultaneously creating a new type of magic that combined eastern with western magic. His closest friend at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, ****Aello Lasair Savill (figure 7-7), created her own version of the Clow Cards. These were aptly called the ****Curse of Pandora (figure 7-6).**

_According to muggle Greek Mythology, the first woman was called Pandora. Out of revenge for Prometheus stealing fire from the gods and giving it to man, Pandora was presented to Prometheus' foolish brother Epimetheus to be his wife. She had also been given a jar (better known as Pandora's Box), and while she was beautiful and had many talents, she had a fatal flaw—curiosity. Under no conditions was she to open the jar, but she was desperate to see what was inside. Disregarding her instructions, she unsealed it, releasing the evil spirits inside that to this day plague mankind. _

_The Curse of Pandora consists of seven cards, each based on one of the spirits inside Pandora's Box. Unlike the Clow Cards the Curse of Pandora cards imitated, they were malevolent spirits that were able to inflict serious harm on humans and objects._

_It is widespread belief that **Rei Miyazaki destroyed the Curse of Pandora, but it is uncertain whether the spirits found new hosts or the threat is truly gone.**_

Daisuke took a quick glance at the clock on the wall. It was now nearly midnight, which was enough motivation for his lazy, procrastinating self to start working on that essay.

_Magical Art Room. Hesperian Institute. Tomoeda, Japan. November 2002._

"You don't look so good today, Sasaki," Meiling remarked as her best friend stumbled into the classroom.

"Shut up," he snapped grouchily.

She was mildly surprised. Sasaki was normally an over-cheerful person whose lack of depression had been compensated for by a tendency to annoy others with his constantly jovial mood. Leaning towards him, she asked, "Is something the matter?"

He muttered something inaudible.

"Could you repeat that?"

"Li-san? Please refrain from talking during **my class time." Hiiragizawa fixed her with a stern look.**

Instead of looking sheepish, like most students did, she shot him a glare. He ignored her, although Meiling was sure he had seen her silent act of defiance. She still found little to like about him.

The lesson passed slowly. Hiiragizawa was showing them how to make motion paint, which involved a good deal of potions skill. Having little skill at concocting potions, Meiling botched hers up horribly, but not as badly as Sasaki did. His attempt had exploded, splattering most of the class with color. 

Fortunately, Hiiragizawa was fairly lenient on Sasaki, cleaning the mess up himself and sending the poor teenager to the hospital wing. After the mess was cleaned up (whatever Sasaki had concocted, it was sticky), the lesson was nearly over.

"Those of you who did the divination extra credit, please come up to my desk," Hiiragizawa called out. 

About two other people rose out of their seats. Hiiragizawa glanced over theirs, marked their grades in his grade book, and then waited in silence as Meiling fished her deck out of her bag. 

"Here," she said once she'd retrieved them all, tossing them onto his desk seemingly without care. 

His reaction was not what she had expected. "Li-san, did you copy these out of a book?"

"Are you accusing me of plagiarism?" Meiling demanded angrily. She'd actually put **effort into this assignment, and he thought she'd _copied it out of some library book!_**

"No. But please see me after dinner today," said Hiiragizawa. "And I'll be keeping these for now."

She turned around and stalked back to her seat, fuming. Now she had to waste even more time on this idiot?

_Moonscape Cottage. Hesperian Institute. Tomoeda, Japan. November 2002._

"Please, sit and make yourself comfortable," said Hiiragizawa as he gestured to the overstuffed armchair facing across from his.

Meiling was mildly concerned for the state of his sanity, but said nothing, merely accepting his offer with her customary scowl. 

"So, what tarot deck did I _allegedly copy?" she asked abruptly, not wanting to spend all night sitting across from her least favorite professor._

Hiiragizawa ambled towards the large and overflowing bookshelf in the corner of the room, and pulled out a book titled Artifacts of Dark Magick, which was dusty and looked about a century or two old. As he flipped to the page he wanted, Meiling noticed that the pages were a shade of yellow that spoke of mustiness and age.

"This is the Curse of Pandora. Does it look familiar to you?" Hiiragizawa said matter-of-factly.

"What?" Meiling exclaimed in outrage, nearly leaping out of her seat. "They copied my deck! Those lousy—" 

"You appear to be genuinely surprised, so I doubt you plagiarized. But that also spells bad news," he mused. 

"What do you mean, bad news?" she sent him a questioning look.

"Read about the Curse of Pandora in your Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook," said Hiiragizawa, avoiding her question. "Then I'll answer your questions."

_First Year Girls' Dorm C. Hesperian Institute. Tomoeda, Japan. November 2002._

Meiling did not immediately look up the Curse of Pandora. She _did have homework from her other classes. But those assignments were finished quickly, and so she took out her Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook._

As she read, her eyes widened in horror. So this was what he meant by bad news.

She let a long string of curse words loose.

"My virgin ears," her dorm-mate mourned.

_Syaoran's Apartment. Tomoeda, Japan. December 2002. _

Syaoran had always known that Meiling could take care of herself. She was fierce and independent, with a bad attitude and martial arts skills that surpassed his own (which he grudgingly admitted). But his mother insisted that she was in trouble and needed his help. And being the clan matriarch, she had to be obeyed. 

He still thought that it was a bad idea.

Meiling valued her independence. Despite having been extremely attached to him when they'd been younger, she did not appreciate feeling like she needed to be taken care of. So Syaoran was wary of her reaction to his presence.

But he could put that off until the next day. It was late, he was tired, and it would be a Saturday. 

_She doesn't have classes on the weekends, does she? _

How could he have been so foolish? It hadn't been until just now that Syaoran had realized he had no way of contacting Meiling. 

A phone would not work; even if there were working phones at her school, he did not have the number. Sending her a letter would take too much time. Did the muggle mail even reach Hesperian Institute? And the preferred method of communication among western sorcerers, by owl, was not an option either. Most people did not keep an owl as a pet, and Syaoran was one of those "most people."

Looking out the window, Syaoran could see two hills in the distance. One of them had an amusement park, bringing a flood of unpleasant memories back to the surface of his mind, but the other was empty and barren. Or so it seemed. He sensed a faint aura of Clow magic coming from the hill, a hazy and familiar gray. 

Hiiragizawa.

Hurriedly putting on his jacket and heading out the door, he began to run—not quite sprinting but not jogging either—in the direction of the so-called barren hill. Syaoran was on the outskirts of the town when rather abruptly, an unknown magical aura flooded his senses with its sheer amount of power. Halting to a complete stop, he focused more intently on it, sensing that it belonged to a person. But to whom? Was this person the source of Meiling's trouble?

It was a dark shade of pink with a streak of…emptiness. Pitch-black wasn't quite the right description for it. There was a vague familiarity associated with the aura, but Syaoran could not think of anyone who fit its angst-ridden tones. Whomever it belonged to did not seem to be far away, so he headed in his or her direction. 

Syaoran ended up at the edge of the "empty" hill. There were two girls walking ahead of him, going up the stone steps while talking in normal voices to each other. The one on the right, with long gray hair, had no magic. But it was to her auburn-haired companion that the strange aura belonged.

Cautiously and silently, he followed the pair, wondering if they knew of what was located on the hill. Using an eavesdropping spell he'd picked up while browsing through the vast library at home, he listened in on their conversation as he trailed behind them.

"—kind of sudden that he asked us to drop by today. I haven't seen him since…"

"…since when?" pressed the girl with gray hair.

"The end of August, I think, after that idiot managed to spill ice cream on me. I dreamed about the past. Eriol-kun didn't look too happy after I asked him about it."

So they knew Hiiragizawa, and presumably were making their way up the hill to see him.

"What happened in it?"

Her companion shrugged. "Nothing much. I didn't think it was very important. I did feel strange during it, though, as if it were a…memory." 

By now they had reached the end of the steps, and to his surprise a tall, metallic black gate materialized. Soon after, the rest of Hesperian Institute came into view. Syaoran ducked behind the nearby shrubbery, hoping to conceal himself from their view.

"Hello, you two. I see you have company." A young man's voice called out.

"Company?" The auburn-haired girl whirled around, and to his horror, he could feel her eyes on him. After a few moments in which he could see her thinking furiously, she gave a bitter smile.

"Welcome back, Li."

_Greenhouse 5. Hesperian Institute. Tomoeda, Japan. December 2002._

"Agh! Li, could you lend a hand?" asked Sasaki.

"What's the matter?" Meiling snapped at him, irritated.

The pair was serving detention again for disturbing the peace in the library. After reading about the Curse of Pandora in her textbook last week, she had gone to the library the next day to read more about it—Meiling hadn't particularly wanted to go back to Hiiragizawa's cottage. Sasaki had gone with her, having nothing else to do, and so he had been next to her when she had gone into hysterics.

This time, Meiling hadn't been at the edge of the library, so Ms. Okada (the librarian) had heard her. And not being very lenient, she had given both teenagers detention with Professor Kawano, the Herbology professor. Normally, they would have ended up working in the library, but Professor Kawano had needed help with the puffapod plants. 

Each of them had been given a large wooden bucket, which were to be filled up to the brim with beans. They had headed to separate plants, snapping the pink pods off the plants and emptying the beans in the buckets for an hour, when Sasaki had asked her for help.

"I spilled a bunch of beans. Could you help me get rid of them? Kawano's going to be mad if she sees them." 

Meiling turned around, noting that magnificent flowers that looked like chrysanthemums had burst open from the beans.

"After we're done filling up the buckets," she consented. She was almost done, and hopefully Sasaki was as well.

A few minutes later, when her bucket had been filled, Meiling carried it to the door and placed it next to it, where Kawano had asked them to leave the puffapod beans. Sasaki followed suit, and they went to retrieve the puffapod blooms.

"I think we should burn them," Sasaki suggested. "They only release their magical properties in potions."

"Yes, and we'll let the rest of the greenhouse catch on fire as well!" Meiling scoffed.

"We'll take them outside first."

Each of them grabbing half of the beans, gripping the puffapods by their lengthy, slender stems, they headed out of the greenhouse.

"Know any good fire spells, Li?"

Meiling gave an exasperated sigh.

_Arcadia Pond. Hesperian Institute. Tomoeda, Japan. December 2002._

"_Incendio!" _

The puffapod blooms burst into flame, and turned into ashes in mere seconds. 

"These ashes are kind of _visible on this fake snow," said Sasaki._

"Shut up," Meiling retorted. "Let's see you try to get rid of them."

After wandering aimlessly around the grounds of the school, concealing the puffapods beneath their heavy jackets, they had ended up at the pond. It was a large one, but it still couldn't be classified as a lake. And while it did snow in Japan during winter, it was not supposed to be snowing today. Someone, mostly likely a third or fourth year student, had conjured up the snow as a joke.

"Maybe we could—" 

"Hush!" she interrupted him. It felt as if there were someone nearby.

"What—"

Meiling clamped her hand over his mouth, effectively silencing him, and pulled them both behind a nearby snow-covered tree. She could now hear snatches of conversation.

"—surprised she hasn't killed me yet—"

"—doesn't have cards—"

"—lucky I am—"

The voices stopped abruptly. Meiling tried to breathe as quietly as she could. Sasaki wasn't a problem, as she was still stifling his speech.

"Hello there, Li-san, Sasaki-san. Care to join us?"

Eriol-kun had a real knack for spotting hiding people, Sakura thought as she saw a bedraggled and snow-covered Meiling-chan and an equally pitiful Sasaki-san come out from behind a tree. 

"Eriol-kun, how do you always know when someone's hiding?" she asked.

"I am constantly reading auras," he said, "putting my abilities to good use." Eriol-kun sent her a pointed look.

Sakura ignored it, looking the other way at the eavesdroppers.

"Um…sorry for spying on you guys…we were…um…" Meiling-chan tried to come up with an excuse, but failed.

Tomoyo-chan smirked. "Having a romantic rendezvous?" 

"Uh…yes!" Realizing her mistake, Meiling-chan flushed scarlet. "No, wait, no! Wait! Um…" 

At this, Tomoyo-chan gave a high-pitched and evil-sounding laugh. She didn't quite sound like her usual self. "I'll not ask what you two were up to."

"Daidouji, are you feeling all right?" Li asked, looking mildly concerned.

"She's fine," Sakura snapped angrily. "Why do you care so much all of a sudden? Are you planning on scarring her for life too?"

"Calm down, Sakura-san!" She felt Eriol-kun's hands gripping her shoulders tightly, holding her in place. But he needn't have bothered. She was going to have her revenge on Li, but it wasn't going to be physical.

Well, maybe just a little.  

Author's Note:

I was really hoping that I could write more quickly and get this out earlier, but apparently not. Sorry it took me so long again. And the Tomoyo/Syaoran parts might not come for a few chapters, but now that Syaoran's back it'll come eventually.

On "Butterfly Collector":

The little portion in the beginning of chapter 2 is talking about how Sakura isn't good at magic anymore. It's not the song's true meaning, but those two lines fit somewhat. Emphasis on somewhat.

On Reading Auras:

People with Clow magic/eastern magic can do it, but it must be a conscious effort. Eriol does it, Syaoran does it, but Sakura doesn't since she doesn't use her magic very often anymore. She didn't detect Syaoran following them because of it. But she still has the ability, and she's still got a lot of power. She's only choosing not to take advantage of it.

On the Curse of Pandora:

I will try to sketch these sometime, so you can see what they look like. They function like the Clow Cards/Sakura Cards, but they don't look like them, more like tarot cards. 

On Hesperian Institute:

I messed up. Originally, I had it so that anyone could see it, but the muggles stayed away because there are muggle-repelling charms everywhere (like the ones in GoF at the Quidditch World Cup). But then I changed that around in Chapter 2, without realizing it. So I'm just going to claim that muggles can see the school, but people with non-western magic can't. In case you're wondering, it doesn't make any sense to me either.

On Tomoyo's Evil Laugh:

She's got a laugh like that in canon. In the second movie, as she's talking to Kero-chan about how she made excuses for the costumes in the movie she made, she gives an extremely high-pitched laugh. Kero-chan comments that he never knew she was so bad.


	6. 05 Chasing the Sun Away

"You decided to hideout from the sunlight  
It's too bright and it just doesn't sit right  
With the way you're feeling today  
You're cloudy and gray"  
  


Mighty Mighty Bosstones, "Chasing the Sun Away"****

**5**

_Syaoran's Apartment. Tomoeda, Japan. December 2002_.

It was unbearably hot, Syaoran decided, even though it was snowing heavily outside. But he didn't seem to be in Japan. The room he was in looked as if it belonged in England, perhaps several centuries ago, as did his black velvet dress robes. He wasn't sure how he had wound up here. 

"Valentine! Come, join us!" 

Syaoran turned around in the direction of the voice (which had a conspicuous British accent), towards the fireplace, where he saw a group of teenagers in chairs all wearing dress robes. They were chatting amiably with each other, their excitement prominent on their faces.

"Are you not lonely in that corner?" continued the voice. He saw now that it belonged to Daidouji.

"Daidouji, is something the matter with you? You seem to have adopted a British accent and forgotten my name," said Syaoran, sitting down in the empty chair beside her.

Daidouji laughed. "Are you trying to be funny? Have_ you_ forgotten my name? I suppose that Christmas has affected your mind somewhat."

Christmas?

He took a closer look at his surroundings. Standing several feet away from him was a gigantic Christmas tree that had surely been enlarged with magic. It was adorned with archaic glass ornaments and candles, which caused him to wonder why the tree hadn't yet caught on fire. A nearby table was laden with food, all of which was traditional western holiday fare. 

But hadn't Christmas been about two weeks away, last time he checked?

"Valentine?" Daidouji waved her hand in front of his face. "Care to share your thoughts?" 

"Everything seems so strange here," he muttered. Syaoran then noticed that there was something different about Daidouji as well. For one, she seemed to be wearing sienna-colored contacts, but there was something else. After a few moments of studying her intensely, he realized that it was her aura. It had been a serene lavender color without a trace of magic just the day before. Now it was an electric azure color that _crackled _with its power.

"What here is strange?" she pressed.

"Well, there's you, for one. I didn't think that you had…" 

Then the idea struck him.

Maybe Daidouji's aura hadn't changed at all.

Maybe it wasn't Daidouji who was sitting next to him, but someone else entirely.

_Rap. Rap. Rap._

Being a light sleeper, Syaoran woke immediately at the rapping noises on his window. 

"Coming," he grumbled, mildly irritated because his sleep had been interrupted. Dragging himself out of bed, he mustered all of his energy and slid the heavy glass window open.

An small owl, snowy in color, flew in like a ghostly blur. It dropped its letter onto Syaoran's head and flew back out the window before he could retaliate.

"Stupid owl," Syaoran muttered darkly, sliding the window shut and tearing the letter open. 

In messy Chinese characters, there was an invitation:

_I was thinking that it might be fun to spend the day in Tokyo, maybe going Christmas shopping or something. It's been a while since we all did something as a group. Meet us at the base of the hill that has my school on top of it at 9. _

_                                                                                                            Meiling_

_PS: I invited Daidouji-san and Kinomoto-san too. You _do_ want to be friends with her again, right?_

_PPS: Hiiragizawa's coming too. I used his annoying owl to send this letter, so he said he had a right to come with us. Self-righteous bastard idiot._

Syaoran scowled, tearing up the letter. If Hiiragizawa was going, he most certainly would not. 

_Sorry, Meiling._

_Hill. Tomoeda, Japan. December 2002._

"He's late," Sakura-san remarked with a smirk. "We should leave without him."

Meiling-san shook her head, looking mildly irritated. "I'm sure he'll come. He won't let me down." 

And she was right. Moments later, a boy with short brown hair was visible in the distance, appearing to be running rapidly. Minutes later, he was bent over before them, breathing heavily.

"Are you all right, Li-kun?" asked Daidouji-san.

Li stood up straight. "Yes," he said unsteadily, "I'm fine."

"You're **late," said Meiling angrily, poking him violently in the chest with her finger, despite the fact that he was a good 12 cm taller than her.**

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I changed my mind at the last minute."

"And why weren't you going to come?" she demanded.

"Because you said that Hiiragizawa would be coming. But I don't see him," said Syaoran, puzzled.

"Have you no _eyes?" asked Eriol in amazement._

Li glared, recognizing him once he spoke. "Yes, I have eyes, thanks for asking. You just don't look like your normal self, that's all."

Eriol stifled his laughter. All he had done was take a Youthfulness Potion, so he now looked to be about fifteen. Apparently, it had been enough to fool even his "descendant." 

"Why don't we go now?" Meiling-san suggested. She began to walk briskly in the direction of the bus stop; the rest of them had no choice but to follow. 

_Movie Theater. Tokyo, Japan. December 2002._

It was only just past noon, but Sakura was already bored. They had stopped for lunch at a ramen restaurant after several hours worth of shopping, and were now deciding on which movie to watch. She was pleased to see the expression of discomfort on Li's face. Meiling-chan had to drag him into the stores; he would have been perfectly content to sit outside and wait for them had she not done so.

"So, what movie do you guys want to see?" asked Meiling-chan.

"Nothing romance," said Li and Sakura in unison. Sakura sent him a scowl, while he turned tomato-red and looked away.

"But Daidouji-san and I wanted to watch a romance movie." Meiling-chan grinned, eyeing Eriol-kun. "You haven't decided yet, Hiiragizawa."

An expression identical to Meiling-chan's appeared on Eriol-kun's face. "I agree with Daidouji-san and Li-san. Let's watch a romance movie."

"I'm not willing to subject myself to such torture," objected Sakura.

"Neither am I," said Li.

"Then you two can go do something else. _We'd_ like to see a movie," Meiing-chan declared.

"Fine with me. Let's go, Li." Sakura left in the direction of the shops, gesturing at Li to follow her.

"We'll meet up with you at the kissaten down the street later!" she called back to them. 

They left, and awkward silence followed. Sakura didn't know what to say to this boy; she could appear cool and collected on the outside, but inside she was still unsure of herself, still angry. She had never expected him to show his face in Japan again. What was he doing here, anyway?

"Li?" Sakura began tentatively. "Why did you come back?"

He shrugged. "Mother insisted I come. Meiling's supposed to be in some sort of danger, but so far I haven't noticed anything."

She was about to ask what kind of danger when she felt it. 

Kinomoto froze. 

"What's wrong, Kinomoto?" asked Syaoran.

"Can't you sense it?" she said quietly. "That pitch-black aura…it feels like a Clow Card, but it can't be. No Clow Card would be so cold, so…empty."

"I must remind you," he said dryly, "that it isn't as easy for me to sense something as it is for you. You might not have tried it for awhile, but that ease is still there. What direction is it coming from?"

She shuddered. "I don't want to focus on it."

"You have to," he urged her. 

"_Have to?" said Kinomoto in that same quiet voice. "Do I?"_

Syaoran dared not say anything.

"If you knew what it was like, would you ask me to try to locate it? As appalling as it is? You don't care at all—but wait. You're not supposed to care," she sneered. "Not after the sealed card took your feelings."

Kinomoto stalked angrily out of his sight, and he was left wondering what to do about her.

_Kissaten. Tokyo, Japan. December 2002._

He found her in the group's meeting spot.

Outwardly, there were only minor changes. Her hair was still auburn, though it was much longer now. She was a few inches taller than the last time he had been to Japan, but she was still shorter than him by half a head. Scowls were her facial expression of choice, with the occasional neutral smile, and her eyes were still as green as ever.

"Get away from me," she hissed. 

Ignoring her, Syaoran sat down in the seat opposite her. 

"Didn't you hear me? Go away," she said.

"I heard you. I'm choosing not to obey."

"A foolish choice, seeing as how I have my cards with me." Almost nonchalantly, Kinomoto pulled out her deck of Sakura Cards and began to flip through them. "I could drown you with Watery, bury you alive with Earthy, burn you to a crisp with Firey, and suffocate you with Windy. I would blind you with Light and imprison you in Dark forever."

"Maybe if you'd been using magic regularly, you could. But right now, you're weakened. You couldn't override the cards' benevolent nature," he objected.

"You're underestimating me again," she stated simply.

"Am I? Tell me, when was the last time you actually used one of the Sakura Cards?"

"August."

He smirked. "Four months. I rest my case."

For the second time that day, Kinomoto stormed off in a huff. 

Syaoran quickly went outside, trying to follow her, only to see that it had begun to rain. A tiny piece of paper, miraculously dry, floated down to him from the sky.

_December._

_Shopping District. Tokyo, Japan. December 2002._

Eriol smiled to himself as he walked, carrying the load of shopping bags Daidouji-san and Meiling-san had heaped upon him. The three of them hadn't actually gone to see a movie, as they had led Sakura-san and Li to believe. Instead, they were going shopping again, which was what they had planned to do all along. If their plan had worked, then the two former cardcaptors would be reconciling at the moment.

Rain began to fall, merely a light drizzle, and he looked up at the sky, puzzled. Any rainfall should have become hail. 

"_Impervius," he murmured as he took out his wand, tapping it on the shopping bags. Noting that his companions had fled for shelter, Eriol joined them in the bookstore where they sought refuge. _

 "Hiiragizawa!" Meiling-san rushed over to him. "Why didn't you come in sooner? Now our stuff is all…dry?"

Upon closer inspection, she had noticed that there wasn't a speck of water on their purchases.

"A simple waterproofing spell, Li-san," he explained.

She sent him a scowl, then relieved him of his burden and joined Daidouji-san in the Young Adult section. 

Outside, the rain began to fall more heavily, and lightning danced across the sky. The street was deserted, as everyone had hurried inside—except for one person. It was a very soaked Sakura-san who dared to walk outside, sans umbrella and raincoat.

Eriol did not hesitate in racing outside. "Sakura-san!"

"Is something the matter?" she said calmly, as if she weren't standing in the middle of a raging storm.

He gaped at her. "_Is something the matter? Look around you!"_

"It's raining," Sakura-san observed. "Matches my mood perfectly."

"What happened between you and Li?"

"Nothing, really," she began. "All he did was boss me around then insult me."

"And where is he now?"

She shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I left him at the kissaten."

"What kissaten?" Eriol was becoming more than a little exasperated.

"The one that the _entire group was supposed to meet at," said Sakura-san pointedly. "What are you doing here, anyway? You're supposed to be at the movie theater right now."     _

"The movie ended already," he lied. "We were on our way to the kissaten when we were caught in the rain."  

"Liar." 

_Busted._

"Why don't you believe me, Sakura-san?" He sent her what he hoped was a winning smile. _Believe me, believe me. _

"Because even I'm not that stupid, Eriol-kun. The movie lasted less than half an hour? As if."

His hand itched to just take out his wand and _obliviate _her, but he stopped himself from doing so. 

Sakura-san dug into her pockets, and pulled out the Libra card. "Would you rather I _forced you into telling me?"___

It was then that he noticed that she was holding something behind her back, and that she was trembling slightly, not shivering as he thought she was.

"What are you hiding from me?" he demanded.

"Nothing."

This time, he did take out his wand. "_Accio_!" 

The novice staff flew out of her hand. 

"Sakura-san!" he scolded. "You're the one who caused this storm!"

"Damned straight," she muttered darkly. "Now give me my staff back, if you want me to end it."

Reluctantly, he handed it back to her, and she called back the Storm. The sky turned from gray back to blue, the rain stopped, and Sakura-san collapsed from sheer exhaustion. It had been such a long time since she'd used her cards that using only a couple of them took up all her energy. Eriol helped her up, and she stood unsteadily, supporting herself by leaning on his arm.

"I think it's about time we headed home," said Eriol.

Author's Note:

I have no idea why this retarded chapter took so long. And nothing happened, either. So I'm sorry about the lameness of this chapter. The next one shouldn't take as long, since midterms will be over this week. We'll probably get to see Sakura at school next chapter. I have a bit of a surprise planned for that. 

On Kissaten:

It's what they call a western style café in Japan. Since I have no idea where teenagers usually hang out, I just picked a place I'd be at least mildly familiar with. 


End file.
